Flash Retro Game Showcase #2: May 15, 2008

Here are our Flash retro game finds for the week. We have settled down to five games per episode, and that is what we are going with for the time being. I think we have picked some great games for you retro fans this time!

Andrew Martin has created a beautiful scrolling space-battle game. You lead a space-fighter wing into battle against some pretty fierce alien ships. The game includes a large battlefield and a radar scope to locate the vile aliens. This game is reminds me a cross between Bosconian and Time Pilot, but with added benefit of a friendly ships at your disposal.

This game is by the guy who went on to start FlashGameLicense.com, so every Flash game dev out there right now owes him, at the very least, a bit of gratitude for his work. This game is not really as “retro” as the games we normally showcase, (because of its the “post-modern” web-game theme) but the fact that it’s a reverse on Asteroids is also why we like it so much. You play the asteroid, and you must destroy the human ships that arrive in your zone. I’m not sure if this was the first take on this idea, but Adam created the best implementation we’ve seen.

I have gone back to the beginning of Mochiads from about 12 months ago, and this is one of the first and best pixel/retro arcade shooters I have found. The action is a cross between Galaga and Robotron. Waves of aliens arrive on the screen, and you must destroy them all and collect the coins they leave behind. You can move across the entire screen and fire in independently. The visuals and sounds are pure 1982 Atari 800! The graphics even resemble the redefined character sets used by companies like Synapse to make Fort Apache, Shamus and Zeppelin. This one is pure gold. The only problem is that the information about controls is not easy to find.

Yeah, this is just awesome. Terry Paton from http://www.terrypaton.com is true artist when it comes to combining pleasing visuals with effective retro game designs. I’m sure we will be featuring more of his stuff in the future. By the way, this one is *not* remake of Crystal Mines for the NES or Crystal Mines II for the Atari Lynx, but something else entirely.

Another amazing game from Terry Paton. It’s becoming a sincere joy to view his games. This a Breakout/Arkanoid style game with a twist. The Paddle angles in the direction you slide the mouse, and this helps you in-turn, reflect the ball in the desired direction. This game has the feel of pinball crossed with a brick game which, to me just might be classic gaming Nirvana.

That’s it for this week. As always, if you have a game you would like us to see, please email us at info@8bitrocket.com